


Who Cares What They Say

by klaineanummel



Series: Labels [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Jock!Kurt, M/M, unlabelled sexuality!kurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 09:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3891184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klaineanummel/pseuds/klaineanummel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt doesn’t have much experience with people talking behind his back. He’s never really been popular enough for that. To suddenly have everybody he knows, plus a multitude of people he doesn’t, doing it is a little overwhelming, to say the least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who Cares What They Say

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part of my new Labels verse, and it takes place during and slightly after the second half of the first part. WARNING for minor homophobia and slut shaming plus a lot of biphobia. Rachel doesn’t come off that great here either, but I wouldn’t consider this “anti-rachel”. Some might though, so just be warned about that.

Kurt's only had one experience with people talking about him behind his back, and that was back in high school when he and Brittany broke up.

People thought – and still seem to think – that Kurt didn't hear them. That he didn't know they were saying things about him. Really horrible, mean things. How could he not know though? It's not like people were being discreet. Every time he walked down the hall people bunched together and whispered amongst themselves, sending pointed looks in his direction every other second. When he sat down in class the two people beside him suddenly stopped talking, both giving him looks that varied from pity to disgust.

He wasn't even safe in Glee club, where everyone would be shouting amongst themselves until he walked into the choir room and then nobody had anything to say. Santana and Brittany would walk in after, and everyone would side eye each other, but kept their lips tightly pursed. Clearly people cared more about Santana hearing what they had to say than Kurt hearing.

Because he heard. Of course he heard. He heard every stupid rumor that made it's way through that school.

“They tried to have sex but his dick is like, miniscule. That's what I heard.”

“They had a threesome with Santana but he was totally left out, so he dumped Brittany on the spot in a fit of jealousy.”

“He was cheating too, with a guy from that prep school on the other side of town. Don't act like you didn't know they were totally each others beards.”

“He asked her for some backdoor stuff, that's what I heard.”

“He was intimidated by the amount of men she'd slept with and ended up calling her a slut, so she broke up with him. At least that's what Azimio told me.”

“He got jealous of her relationship with Santana and demanded to be included. They're total lesbos though, so they booted him out.”

He shouldn't have been surprised that every rumour painted him as the bad guy. Brittany was (and still is at her current university, according to her facebook) one of the most beloved students at that school. Everyone loved Brittany. Kurt…

Kurt was nobody until he dated Brittany.

He tried not to let the talk get to him, and for the most part it didn't. The only ones that really bothered him were the ones about him treating Brittany badly in any way. He loved Brittany, although he wasn't really sure in what capacity, and he would never do anything to intentionally hurt her. He hated that a large portion of the school thought he did.

As everything, this eventually passed. Everyone found out that Sam was homeless, Santana got voted Prom King alongside Brittany's queen, Coach Sylvester's sister died, Finn and Rachel destroyed their chances at winning Nationals, and everyone parted ways for the summer.

By the time school started back up nobody even remembered that Kurt and Brittany dated.

Since then he's never had to worry about people talking behind his back. Even when he screws up in football the guys are always direct about it, telling him straight to his face that he needs to get his act together. He's not exactly popular at NYU, he's only really known because he plays football, and since he's never been involved with anybody there's never really been a chance for gossip to spread.

Until now, of course. Until Blaine.

**

The first time he hears it is in the locker rooms. He's just coming out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and another being used to dab his hair when he hears the whispers.

“-didn't even know he was gay.”

“Dude, really? It's been so obvious, since like, day one.”

“He never said, though. With something like that isn't it just common courtesy to let your teammates know? Karofsky told us on the first day of practice.”

“Maybe he wanted to sneak a peak at our goods without us knowing.”

“Fuck off, not all gay guys are like that.”

“Of course, says the bi guy, who _also_ came out to us on the first day of practice, by the way.”

“I was just being courteous, but I also already knew. Maybe he just figured it out?”

“Yeah, but he still didn't say until Karofsky confronted him about that slutty boyfriend of his. He kept it to himself for like, two weeks. Who knows how much junk peeking went on during that time.”

Kurt feels anger grow inside him and stalks out of the showers and right past the group of four guys talking on the benches. They all look up, eyes wide and surprised. Kurt glares at each of them individually.

“Say whatever the hell you want about me,” he says, voice as cold as he can make it, “But if you _ever_ say anything like that about my boyfriend again, I will make it so that you never say anything ever again. Got it?”

They all nod, still seemingly too shocked to appropriately come back.

Kurt turns to leave, then makes a one-eighty and says, “And by the way? I don't need to take a peek to know that none of you guys are packing _anything_ impressive.”

Feeling satisfied he goes off to his locker, changes, and starts to make his way home.

It felt good to tell them off, that's for sure. But he also can't seem to shake their words. He hates that they all assume he's gay, especially when he hasn't decided on that just yet himself. He hates that they think he owes them some sort of explanation, as if they're his best buddies or something. He… honestly, he kind of hates them.

Blaine is at the loft when he gets home, snacking on popcorn with Rachel as they watch a movie. Blaine grins up at him when he arrives and extends his neck. Kurt chuckles and leans down to kiss him gently on the lips.

He joins them on the couch, takes a handful of buttery popcorn, and decides to put today's incident out of his mind. It's a lot easier with Blaine sitting beside him, resting his head on his shoulder.

**

Apparently Kurt's days of flying under the radar are over. His teammates blabbed, and now everywhere Kurt goes people seem to be whispering things about him.

“He just came out, right?” he hears a group of girls say as he walks by them one day, “Damn, all the hot ones are always gay.”

“He's just doing it for attention,” a girl whispers to her boyfriend in the library.

“He stole Karofsky's boyfriend, that's what I heard,” a boy tells his friends, all of them glaring at him as he walks past.

“He didn't tell anyone because he gets off on staring at the guys in the locker room,” and really, that's the most annoying one, because not a single guy in that locker room in worth a second glance in Kurt's books.

Nobody other than Blaine is, really.

This kind of talk doesn't bother him. He's dealt with this before. Something more exciting will happen in a couple of weeks and everyone will forget all about him.

Still, it's kind of annoying to walk into the cafeteria and have about fifty percent of it turn and look at him. It's frustrating to sit down in class and know that everyone was talking about him mere moments before. He's getting tired of hearing a running commentary everywhere he goes.

 _It'll be over soon_ he tells himself. _It'll be over soon_.

**

When he goes home over March break he and Blaine attend a New Directions get together, thrown by none other than Rachel Berry herself.

It goes just about as well as he expects it to.

He and Blaine arrive late, and just as they're about to open the door leading to Rachel's basement they hear the voices.

“I'm just saying don't be weird about it, okay?” Rachel's voice says.

“Why would we be weird about it? I've always suspected Hummel was a little homo,” that's Puck. Kurt shudders and Blaine squeezes his hand.

“Honestly I'm not that surprised,” comes Santana, “He wasn't nearly as pissed as he should have been when he found out about me and Britt. If that doesn't scream gay...”

“No, don't use that word,” Rachel says, “He's always complaining that people automatically assume he's gay.”

“Well, isn't he?” Sam, he thinks, “I mean, he's never showed any interest for any girl other than Brittany, and even then he wasn't exactly the picture of a man in love.”

“Personally,” Rachel says, “I think he is gay and just in denial, but he hasn't openly come out yet, and if he wants to pretend like he's bi, or confused, or whatever, well that's on him.”

“He has nothing to be ashamed of,” Tina, “We obviously still love Santana and Brittany the same. Why would that be different with him?”

“You think he's embarrassed about being gay?” That's Sugar, “Or embarrassed to tell people since he denied it for so long?”

Kurt's heard enough. He throws the door open, making sure it slams against the wall as loud as possible. He holds Blaine's hand proudly as he walks down the stairs and greets them with, “Hey everyone, what are we talking about?”

Everyone stares at them for several seconds, mouths open and eyes wide. They really need to learn how to be more discreet. Even if Kurt hadn't heard them he would still know they'd just been talking about him based on their expressions alone.

“Is this Blaine?” Tina asks, clearing her throat.

“Yes,” Kurt says, standing tall, “This is my boyfriend, Blaine.”

Everyone rushes up to meet Blaine and congratulate them. Kurt has to resist the urge to roll his eyes as they talk about how amazing it is that Kurt's met someone, and how happy they are for them.

He tries to ignore the annoyance that festers in his gut as the evening goes on, but it's hard. Nobody uses the word gay, but Puck says “It's nice you finally found someone you're actually attracted to,” and Mercedes pinches Blaine's cheek while saying, “If I had this handsome man on my arm I would be screaming about it from the rooftop.”

Rachel and Mercedes' words hurt more than anything. Knowing that all this time he's been confiding in Rachel about his frustration with people's obsession with labels she's been on their side. That Mercedes believes Rachel over him. That they both think he's in denial when he feels like he's never been more honest.

He wishes Brittany had been able to make it. She's the only one of his friends that doesn't strictly fall into the category of gay or straight, and he knows she would have stood up for him had she been there.

Somehow he manages to make it through the night without snapping, but as soon as he and Blaine are alone in their car he can't help but say, “Can you fucking believe them? They're so… and they call themselves my friends! Fuck.”

Blaine smiles sadly, reaches over the console and takes Kurt's hand, “You know they're wrong, right?”

“About what?”

“About you. Just because you're dating a guy doesn't automatically make you gay. Screw them for saying that.”

Kurt snorts, feeling some of the tension melt out of his muscles, “Even Rachel?”

“ _Especially_ Rachel,” Blaine says, “She's your roommate, your best friend, and she should know better than to say things like that behind your back. Kurt,” he squeezes Kurt's hand for what feels like the thousandth time that night, “She doesn't get to decide your sexuality for you. Nobody does. Only you do.”

Kurt takes a deep breath. Then nods.

“You're right. Sorry, it's just. It's been like that for the past, like, month at school and with the team, and. Well, I don't know, I guess I thought I'd be able to escape it around the people I consider my closest friends.”

“I'm sorry,” Blaine winces, “I thought you would too.”

Kurt leans in and kisses Blaine on the cheek, “Thank god I have you, huh?”

“Yeah, you are pretty lucky,” Blaine teases, turning his head and pursing his lips. Kurt rolls his eyes but still pecks him gently. “I guess I'm kinda lucky too.”

“Oh yeah?” Kurt chuckles as he pulls away and fastens his seatbelt.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”

**

He tells his dad that night. After Blaine's tucked into bed, Kurt goes back downstairs and rants until his throat is sore. He complains about his teammates, who think so highly of themselves that they assume Kurt didn't come out because he wanted to check them out. He complains about the people at school, how they don't even know him but they think they can make assumptions about him. He complains about his friends, who seem to still be in high school if their little gossip session was anything to go by. He complains about Rachel, who he thought was in his corner but never was.

When he's done he collapses on the couch and curls into his dad's side, on the verge of tears. Burt puts an arm around his shoulders and lets him breathe, trying to calm himself down.

“I know it's frustrating bud,” Burt says, “Especially coming from your friends.”

Kurt mumbles, “They aren't even trying to understand.”

“Then make them.”

Kurt looks up, and his dad smiles. Kurt smiles too, then buries his face in his dad's shoulder, letting himself feel all of five years old.

**

He doesn't wait long to confront Rachel. They've only been in New York for a few hours when he opens the curtain to her room and says, “I need to talk to you.”

She's still unpacking, “Can it wait?” she asks, folding a sweater, “I really want to get this done as soon as possible.”

“No,” he sits down on her bed, “It can't wait.” She doesn't turn or stop what she's doing so he says, “I heard you, at your New Directions reunion party.”

“Hmm?” she looks over her shoulder, “You mean when I absolutely destroyed Santana at karaoke? Because-”

“No,” he says again, “When you told everyone you thought I was gay and lying to myself about it.”

She freezes, hands clutching the sweater in her hand. “Oh,” she squeaks, “Um. What? I didn't-”

“Yes you did. You went behind my back and talked about my sexuality with the rest of our friends before I even got the chance to.”

“I just shared my personal opinion,” she says, instantly on the defensive, “That's not a crime.”

“You colored their perception of what I'm going through!” he throws his hands in the air in frustration, “You told them you think I'm gay, and now no matter what I tell them they're always going to have heard you first. I'm always going to be a gay man who's lying to himself to them, no matter what I identify as.”

“And what exactly is that Kurt, huh?”

“I don't know!” he shouts. “I don't know Rachel, okay? I don't know.”

“So why are you so angry at me?” she shouts right back, “You've only ever liked Blaine, who's a guy, so for all we know you're gay but you're just making it more complicated than it needs to be.”

Kurt groans, “It's not that black and white,” he says, trying to bring the level of his voice down, “Brittany's bisexual. Do you think she's just a lesbian who's making things more complicated than they need to be?”

“What? Of course not.”

“So why is it any different with me?”

“Because you _could be_ gay, and I don't understand why you're mad that I told people my personal opinion when it could be right.”

“Yeah, and I could also be bisexual, or asexual, or demisexual, or any kind of fucking sexual that I want to be. It's none of your business, and it's none of our friend's business either. Besides, you should be taking me at face value about _my_ sexuality, and if you personally think my sexuality isn't what I say it is, then you keep it to yourself.”

“But you haven't even said what your sexuality is, so I don't-”

“Rachel,” Kurt says, pinching his nose, “You aren't listening to me.”

“Yes, I am, you just aren't making any sense. One second you're gay, then you're bi, then you're whatever, are you even hearing yourself?”

“Rachel. Shut your defenses off for a second, okay? I'm not attacking you, so stop trying to defend yourself and actually listen to what I'm saying.” He pauses as she drops the sweater and glares, but then nods, “Thank you. Here's the crux, which you don't seem to understand. I have not yet figured out who I am, or what I identify as. You knew that, and you knew that I found it frustrating that everyone automatically assumed I was gay when I told them about Blaine.

“Still, knowing that, you went behind my back and told all our friends that you, personally, think that I'm gay, therefore enabling them to also assume that I'm gay. Now, regardless of if I choose to remain label-free for the rest of my life, or if I do end up self-identifying with a specific sexuality other than gay, they are all just going to assume that I'm gay and lying to myself. Because _you_ told them that that's what's happening. You placed your word higher than mine, and that is never going to go away. That is why I'm upset at you. Do you understand?”

“But if-”

“No _but's_ Rachel,” he says, running a hand over his face, “It doesn't matter if I decide to identify as gay okay? That doesn't change the fact that you still made all our friends believe I was gay before even I could discover it.”

“So you are gay.”

“God, you still aren't listening.”

“I'm just trying to understand why you're so angry! Even if you aren't gay, I still only told them my personal opinion. Why are you acting like I outed you?”

“Fuck, Rachel, because you _did_.”

“No, I didn't. They all already knew about Blaine.”

“Yes, but they didn't know that I don't identify as gay. At least not right now. In the future, who knows, maybe, but right now I don't consider myself gay, and for you to tell them that I am was insensitive and wrong.”

She glares, “Is this some kind of internalized homophobia thing? Because-”

“Rachel,” he snaps, “If you hooked up with a girl tomorrow, how would you feel if I went around telling everyone that, personally, I think you're a lesbian because of it.”

“That's completely hypothetical,” she says, waving a hand dismissively, “Besides, I would never hook up with a girl. I'm straight, remember?”

“Just like I was straight a month ago.”

She opens her mouth, then closes it.

“Rachel,” he stands up and approaches her, “I have been dealing with people talking about me behind my back for weeks. Ever since I got with Blaine, really. All those people though, I don't care about them. I care about you. Somehow you've become my best friend and I just… You tell your friends when they do something wrong. You tell your friends when they've hurt you.”

Rachel looks down at the ground, “You weren't supposed to know,” she whispers.

He shakes his head, “Can't you see how much worse that makes it? What if I didn't know, huh? What if in two months I come to the realization that I'm demi, but all my friends think that I'm gay and trying to hide it? What if you all keep talking behind my back and I only find out about it years later? Do you know how absolutely shitty that would feel? To know none of your friends believe you about something as deeply personal as your sexuality?

“The fact that you've already decided in your mind that I'm gay sucks. It really sucks, because regardless of what I choose to identify as – even if that decision is to not identify as anything – you're still going to think I'm gay. You've made that decision, and not only that, but you shared that with others. Can you please, please tell me you understand why I'm mad about that?”

“I didn't- I was just sharing my opinion,” she says, but she sounds less confident than earlier.

“About _my_ sexuality. Mine, not yours. My sexuality, which is mine to decide, and yours to accept no matter what I say it is. You don't get to decide my sexuality for me. Your opinion doesn't matter in this situation. Why aren't you understanding that?”

She bites her bottom lip and shakes her head, “I need to-” she takes a deep breath, “I need to take a walk, I think. I can't… be here, right now. I'm sorry.”

She drops the sweater on her bed and brushes past him. He groans as he watches her pick up her keys and very pointedly pick up her phone and then set it back down. She doesn't look back as she walks out of the apartment and Kurt has to stop himself from screaming in frustration.

He grabs his own phone and hits Blaine's contact, putting him on speaker as soon as it starts ringing.

“Hey you,” Blaine greets.

“Why am I always the bad guy?”

There's a brief pause, then Blaine says, “What?”

Kurt groans, “I just confronted Rachel about how shitty what she said at her party was and she stormed out as if she was the wronged party. _I'm_ the wronged party.”

“I know you are,” Blaine coos, “I'm sorry. Do you need me to come over?”

“Will you bring me a piece of cheesecake from that bakery I like?”

Blaine laughs, “Of course.”

“Okay. Then yes, I need you to come over.”

Blaine laughs again and says, “You weirdo,” before hanging up. Kurt smiles at his phone, glad that, if anything, at least Blaine is in his corner.

**

Blaine is still at the apartment when Rachel returns. “Oh,” she says, dropping her keys on the table, “Blaine. I wasn't expecting to see you here.”

“Yeah, well,” Blaine shrugs, glancing between Kurt and Rachel, “I'll be on my way now.”

“No,” Kurt hisses, “Please stay.”

“No, I think it's best if Blaine leaves,” Rachel says, giving Kurt a pointed look. He doesn't like that look, and he has a feeling that he isn't going to like whatever conclusion Rachel came to during her stupidly long walk.

“I'll call you, okay?” Blaine says, pecking Kurt on the lips and heading out. Kurt watches him go, trying to will him to stay with his mind.

It doesn't work, and sooner than he'd like he's alone with Rachel.

Neither speaks. Rachel slowly walks toward the couch where Kurt is still sitting, unwrapping her scarf from around her neck, keeping it in her hands and fiddling with it.

“If you expect me to apologize,” Kurt says, wanting this to be over as soon as possible, “Then you can give up now. I'm not in the wrong here, and there's absolutely nothing you can say that will make me think I'm in the wrong.”

“No,” Rachel shakes her head, “I don't… I don't expect you to apologize. You felt hurt, and regardless of how I feel, I should have recognized that and apologized immediately. So I'm sorry.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow, “But...”

“But nothing. Your feelings are valid. I hurt them, and I hurt you, and even if I'm still struggling to figure out what it is exactly that your mad at-”

“How can you not understand, I laid it out for you _so_ plainly-”

“Kurt. Please, let me finish.” He sighs, but nods, “Look, this is all new for me. All of this… more sexualities than gay and straight thing. My dads never really talked about LGBTQ+ issues with me outside of, like, marriage equality, so I never learned about any form of multi-sexuality. I'm trying to understand where you're coming from, okay? I really am. It's just hard for me. The way I see it, you're dating Blaine, and you've never really liked a girl, so you're gay. Since you've told people about Blaine, you're out. That's… that's where I'm coming from.

“That being said, I still hurt your feelings, and even if I don't really understand why I still owe you an apology for it. So I'm sorry. I won't talk about your sexuality with other people, aside from reinforcing what you've told me, again. Okay?”

Kurt nods, “Okay.” He purses his lips, thinking. Then says, “Will you… will you do research with me? About other sexualities? That way we can both get educated, and maybe you can understand a little bit more about where I'm coming from.”

She smiles, “Yeah. I'd like that.”

**

Just as he suspected, by the time he gets back from March break nobody at NYU cares about him anymore. Too many exciting things happened over March break, and his sexuality has become old news. He can finally go back to flying under the radar like he did before this whole fiasco started.

He gets comfortable with not hearing gossip about himself, and within a week he's almost forgotten the shock of knowing somebody is talking about his life without him present.

Which is why he is so shocked when he goes to pick up Blaine from NYADA at the end of the week.

He has two coffees, one in each hand, and an extra spring in his step. Nobody whispered as he passed them on campus all week, and nobody notice him entering any of his classes. It had been a good week, as far as he was concerned.

He's just rounding the corner of the building where Blaine has dance class when he hears his name and he freezes.

“I'm just saying, how do you know this Kurt guy isn't going to cheat on you?”

“I just know,” comes Blaine's voice, exasperated. Clearly this conversation has been going on for a while, “I told you, I trust him.”

“But _why_? You've known him for like, a month. You said you guys made out the day you met. How do you know he isn't going to turn around and do that with the next person he finds himself surprisingly attracted to?”

“He won't. Kurt's not like that.”

“All bisexuals are like that,” says the voice, one Kurt doesn't recognize, “They're all just greedy assholes who can't choose a gender because they want them all. They don't know how to be faithful and that's a proven fact.”

“First of all,” Blaine says, tone clipped, “That's super fucking biphobic, and I can't believe that, as a member of the queer community, you honestly hold that belief. Secondly, Kurt isn't bisexual.”

“It's not biphobic, jesus christ. I told you, it's just a fact. Plus, you said Kurt dated a girl before, and now he's dating you. That's kind of what bisexual is.”

“Kurt doesn't know what he is, okay? He's not straight, and that's all he's labelling it as. You don't get to assume that he's going to cheat on me because of harmful stereotypes about a group of people he isn't even a part of.”

“Him not knowing what he is just makes it worse. What if he meets some super hot chick he feels attracted to, is he going to just make out with her too? Or what if he meets someone who's genderfluid and realizes they're really gorgeous, is he going to hop into bed with them that night?”

“Kurt wasn't dating anybody when he and I got together,” Blaine grits out, “It's totally different.”

Kurt doesn't want to hear whatever response this asshole has to give, so he turns the corner and grins as widely and fakely as he can. “Hey, I thought I heard your voice,” he greets Blaine, widening his eyes to let Blaine know that he heard absolutely everything, “Medium drip, as promised.”

Blaine leans up and kisses him on the cheek, whispering, “I'm so sorry,” as he does, then takes his coffee, “Thanks,” he says, out loud this time.

“This is the famous Kurt, huh?” the asshole says, and Kurt turns to look at a tall guy with sandy hair and a disgusting smirk on his face. “Nice to meet you, I'm Sebastian.”

“Yes, pleasure,” Kurt doesn't take Sebastian's extended hand, “Blaine and I are kind of in a hurry though, have a movie to catch, you know how it is.”

“Of course,” Sebastian's smirk just grows wider, “Well hey, Blaine, I'll see you around. Don't forget what I said.”

Kurt grits his teeth and Blaine rolls his eyes, “Bye Sebastian.”

They start to walk away, Blaine looking just as pissed as Kurt. As soon as they're far enough away from Sebastian Blaine says, “God, I'm so sorry you had to hear that.”

“Which part? The asshole who's never even met me attacking me because of my sexuality, or you defending me like your life depended on it?”

Blaine blushes, “The first one,” he mumbles, looking up at Kurt shyly. “I know how much you hate it when people talk about you behind your back, and I was trying to get him to stop but-”

“It's okay,” Kurt says, squeezing Blaine's hand, “I'm not mad at you.”

“Oh,” Blaine blinks, “You're not? But I-”

“You were defending me like your life depended on it, remember? How can I be mad at you for that.” He shakes his head, “That Sebastian guy… I'm not very happy with him.”

“Me neither,” Blaine says, “He's been like that all semester, every time a guy so much looks my way he's suddenly all up in my face and I just – ugh.”

“Aww,” Kurt pokes Blaine's side, “He has a crush on you.”

Blaine rolls his eyes, “Yeah, a gross, creepy crush, where he somehow always seems to be where I am, and never has a nice thing to say about anybody that I associate with.”

“He's an asshole,” Kurt says, “But you know what? I'm not going to let assholes get to me anymore.”

“Oh yeah?” Blaine asks, slipping his hand into Kurt's.

“Yeah,” Kurt smiles, “The world is full of assholes. I'd rather spend my time focusing on the non-assholes I choose to surround myself with.”

“Am I one of those non-assholes?”

“You are the biggest non-asshole to ever not asshole.”

“Stop it, Kurt, you're making me blush.”

They laugh, and as they walk down the street, Kurt feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

**

People still talk behind his back. It's inevitable, especially in the field he's chosen to enter.

Most of the time it's about his sexuality, but even when it's not he's learnt to let it roll off his back. It's mainly people he doesn't know, and the more time he spends in New York and in the theater business, the less he cares about how people he doesn't know see him.

When it's his friends, he calls them out. Rachel is still defensive every time he brings it up, but she always cools down, apologizes, and continues to further educate herself. The New Directions are unreliable in their reactions, sometimes accepting they were wrong without a fight, and other times throwing every mean and borderline offensive thing he's ever said back in his face.

It always hurts more when it's his friends, but as time goes on he finds himself having to call them out less and less.

Besides, at the end of the day, he always has Blaine standing beside him, holding his hand, and reminding him that no matter what other people say, he always, _always_ , has one person in his corner.

**Author's Note:**

> rebloggable on tumblr [ here ](http://klaineanummel.tumblr.com/post/118323041760/who-cares-what-they-say)


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